(I began writing this a little over a week ago and kept on getting interrupted so it may be a little 2008, if you know what I’m sayin’)

At last. Our things arrived. I was shaking  with excitement as I saw the crate containing our things pull up to the building. I actually hugged one of the movers so hard he practically shot out a poop. The first glimpse of our car sent me into hysterics. I was jumping up and down, screaming. Random people passing by even stopped to watch as they backed it out of the crate and a few people even recorded it on their phones, so bitchin’.

The most spectacular thing to arrive, aside from our car, was our B-E-D. Sleeping in our bed that night, after close to three weeks on an air mattress, was heavenly. I see that Air Mattress left a comment over there. Sorry, guy, it was not fun while it lasted but thanks for the effort. You did all you could.

Anyway, we’ve been up to a LOT, actually, which has left me with zero time to sit and complete this post.

Our waschmaschine arrived and the kitchen is finally coming together. I am actually able to cook now, which is pretty fresh. (yeah, eating out every night gets soooo tired)

+++++

We took our car for a spin on the autobahn for the very first time last week. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to be going 120+ mph and still have cars ZOOMING past us at unthinkable speeds. The only incident that occurred that day was when Husband was pulling the car out of our crazy ass parking spot and scraped up the side of our car. UGH. We filed a claim and, welp, there goes $500.00 (it seems all we do it pay people these days). A very expensive mistake. In fact, the car is at Volvo right now getting modified to be registered and getting that blasted dent repaired. I am dreading the phone call with the estimate. Live and learn can kiss my ass.

Let’s see, what else..

Our bedroom is beginning to look more like a real room rather than just a place where the homeless squat. The drapes arrived last week. They are heavy, velvet and lined so ain’t no 5am sunshine waking me up.

We still have no actual light fixtures, but for the bedroom I have decided to order this:

As far as the rest of the house is concerned, we are taking it one room at a time. It is a bit overwhelming and eventually it will all come together. We weren’t expecting to wreck our car during a standard 5mph parking maneuver, so that sort of cuts into the light fixture budget. Yep, that one hurt on many levels.

We did order a couch and a chair which are scheduled to arrive in three weeks.

Here is our sofa, which we ordered in black leather:

and the matching chair:

Pretty fresh, huh?

Outside of trying to furnish this place, I began researching insurance policies, other than health:  personal liability, DOG liability, household, disability, broken window insurance. There is pretty much a policy for everything in this country so I met with an insurance broker last week and we decided to go with the ones which we NEED, which are liability (in case we run someone over while riding our bike), dog insurance (in case my dog looks too cute, a cyclist cant help but stare, and crashes), and household goods.

We do have health insurance though, through Husbands work. It is mandatory here, everyone must be insured and there are rules and calculations and add on’s and all sorts of things which I cannot even begin to explain.

I had my first doctors appointment today (actually last Friday now), which was pretty funny. The “new patient” form was completely in German and the translation had me in tears laughing:

1. Had I ever had my “almonds operated on” ? My ALMONDS?!? I assumed they meant tonsils? Either that or testicles, so I marked NO.

2. Have I been vaccinated against “ticks”?

3. Am I Welsh? (Ummm that’s kind of PERSONAL)

4. “Do I have a family history of the craps?” Well, funny they should ask…it’s a real shitty story..

That made my day. It was actually really hard to find a doctor who wasn’t on a lunch break. I have been trying to get into this Praxis for three days but every time I go they are on lunch and I am not kidding, these Doctors take THREE – FIVE hour lunches. Like in the middle of the day! Either way, I got in, had a laugh, got my RX’s, which would have cost me well into the hundreds in the US, filled for 17 euro. Can’t beat that.

…what else, oh, duh, the World Cup! Hello!  How fucking fresh is that?! So much national pride, it’s really cool to be able to experience it. Germany’s victory against England was intense and the party afterward even more so (see flickr and Twitter). The energy is unreal and we are right in the heart of it.

Of course, we were bummed to see USA head home, but they did well despite being robbed of two goals. Tonight we are heading over to a neighbors place to watch the game. Should be fun. Although, it is like 85 degrees and ,as I have complained about before, there is NO a/c in Germany, so I am hoping they suggest going to a cafe.

I am really loving this weather though, despite the lack of air conditioning. It is a REAL LIVE season. With the exception of a few 85 degree thunderstorms, (very Maui like), it’s officially summer here. Hot days, balmy nights. Just a dream. I do realize winter will be harsh, but from what I have heard it rarely gets as cold as Lake Tahoe here, and, in fact, it tends to snow, on average, for only about two weeks total. Besides, it will CHRISTMAS and can you think of a better city to be in during the holiday season than Bavaria?!? I am sure day three of snow will roll around and I will contemplate hurling myself out of the window…but, coming from California, I’ve never experienced real seasons before. So this is all new and exciting to me.

+++

Last weekend, before US lost,  we explored Munich’s infamous outdoor market and picked up all sorts of delicious fruits and veggies. I made salsa and guacamole to bring with us to the English Garden to watch the game. The red pepperoni’s here (which are red Italian peppers, NOT smoked meat) are like 10x spicier than a Serrano chili, which was surprising and the tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes.

Overall, the fresh produce and meat here are much better and tastier than in the US. The chickens here are half the size of the overfed, hormone pumped, chickens in the US (basically, they are the size a chicken SHOULD be) and the meat is so much tastier, less fatty and more tender. Even the eggs are different. They have darker orange yolks and a stronger taste, which I actually do not care for.

Every Thursday we have an open market across the street from our house where they sell cheese, produce and bread. Last week I picked up a ball of fresh Mozzarella for a tomato salad and let me tell you, I have never tasted anything so delicious in my entire life. It melted in my mouth. Nothing like the rubbery cheese we consume in the US. It was soft and just plain YUM.

The one thing that does suck here though is the water. It is hard as hard water gets so I’ve got to add salts and tablets to my washing machine and dishwasher and it leaves a nasty chalky scum along the black counter top. It is difficult to drink so most Germans buy bottled mineral wasser by the case, which is what we now do also, and when you return the bottles, in the machine, you get a pfand return, which can be up to ,50 euro per bottle. I returned a bag of bottles last week and got back 4,00 euro. Whoo hoo!

The pfand thing here is interesting and confusing. Sometimes, depending on the bottle, there will be an additional ,50 cents or so tagged on to the bill, or in the case of imported bottles which cannot be put into the machines, they will slap on an additional 5,00 (!! ) to the bill which you get back if/when you return it to the store which you bought it from. I understand why they do this, but it is really inconvenient if you live nowhere near that store, or if the bottle breaks, or you lose the receipt.  We were actually charged an additional pfand of 5,00 for a bottle of Smirnoff, which we learned by reading the bottle was less than 80 proof ( ir was 75 proof, WTF?). So strange because we never get charged a 5,00 pfand when we buy Absolut. I don’t get it. Anyway, if you come to Munich, don’t buy Smirnoff or anything without PFAND written on the back because they store will probably charge you an assload.

Annnnnywatereddownvodka, we have German class tonight. This will be our third class and it’s a lot of fun. I can count to 100 now, say the alphabet properly, say where I am from, ask where someone else is from, tell the person who watered down my vodka to eat shit and die… and while I am understanding more and more every day, the most amazing part is that people are understanding ME when I speak to them in German

Well, I had better be off. Sorry for the long ramble, hopefully you lived through it.

Tschuss xx